Sandals Inn in Montego Bay, gave us the best service we have ever had in a resort.
There is limited space and a small beach area, however if one is looking for intimacy with guests and a peaceful setting with very friendly staff. Then this is the place. If you are looking for more excitement this hotel will shuttle you to any other Sandals Hotels in the area.
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Chelseymcphail2 -
Verified Purchaser
The Inn
Every single thing about the Carlyle was beautiful. The people were amazing, the food was fantastic and the warm feeling you got everyday just felt amazing. We felt so welcome everyday and made some life long friends!
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Notprovidingthis@shouldntbemandatory.ca -
Verified Purchaser
Feels like our home away from home!
Sandals Carlyle or Sandals Inn as it seems they are calling it now is a hoe away from home. It is staffed by a talented group of employees who know how to connect with their guests. This was our second visit to the Carlyle and the first time we have ever returned to a resort in our 25 years of traveling. This location is on a public beach and requires shuttling to the other two large resorts, Sandals Montego Bay and Sandals Royal Caribbean. With this said the minor inconvenience should be reflec[... read more]ted in the overall cost of the trip.
The Carlyle Review:
Staff: Very good to Excellent
Rooms: Good to Very good - some do not have balcony's and are quite dated
WIFI: Excellent
Food: Very good to Excellent
Bar: Very Good to Excellent - staff are engaging, beer is red stripe only (which is pretty good) alcohol is premium. The bar is as quiet as the resort which only has 50+ rooms.
Internal Staff Provided/hosted Entertainment: Poor to very poor - I don't know what to say, it's really bad, staff are not well versed, competing music from the restaurant and the pool. Just bad!
External Entertainment: Good - Show's that were brought to the site to perform, musical mainly very good.
Night Life - Quiet - but you can hang out at the big resorts until late in the evening and partake in the loud fun filled environment.
There are so many staff to thank but one that really stood out this time around was Dominique at the restaurant went over and above to make us feel very special and appreciated and we hope we made him feel the same way. He is very good at his job and his smile brightens even the sunniest of days.
We believe that the Carlyle is the best kept secret in Jamaica and will definitely return one day. We would recommend it to anyone who can rationalize value for the dollar and appreciate it for what it is. A well priced Caribbean get away!
Note: the questions below are inappropriate! Trip central should not concern themselves with my age or gender nor should recommending a hotel to a friend prompt mandatory information! I would recommend both Trip Central's services and this hotel but do not appreciate this attempt to gather personal information about my age, gender and friends email and home location. Not cool!
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Marion51 -
Verified Purchaser
Super Holiday
This is the sixth time we have visited this resort and it still maintains the charm it had the first time. Quiet and intimate yet allows you to visit the other 2 resorts via a shuttle. Due to the high repeat of visitors we were able to connect with people who have been coming over the years.
While it is not the normal 5 star rating that the other Sandals location have it still provides the typical Sandals philosophies and amenities.
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TapTherol -
Verified Purchaser
Excellent staff make the resort outstanding.
Met so many wonderful people, the photographer Shane, bartenders Lamar, Floyd, Teejay, Christopher and staff Brenda, Konisha, Shanita, Dominique, Great Dane and Bird. Really looking forward to seeing everyone again.
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Keeper -
Verified Purchaser
The little hotel Sandals forgot
My wife and I have just returned from a one week stay in the Sandals Carlyle. Before our trip she read the reviews as she always does and told me she was concerned about all the negative reviews about the resort. I refused to believe that it could possibly be a bad as she anticipated. I normally put bad reviews down to fussy travelers. When we mentioned our concerns to friends their common statement was “It’s a Sandals – how bad can it be?†Believe the poor reviews – they really are ac[... read more]curate. If you haven’t booked – don’t. The Sandals Carlyle misses the mark by a long shot. It is a three star at best.
If you have stayed in a luxury resort before be prepared to be very disappointed. We booked a “penthouse suite†– expecting a penthouse experience. The room was no bigger than any standard room. There are no alcoholic drinks in the room –– only a “stocked refrigerator†(soft drinks that is) as carefully worded on the website. The photographs, although accurate, have been taken with a wide angled lens – and in reality although you do indeed get a view of the ocean unfortunately it also comes with a view of the building on the other side of the busy road, telegraph poles and a very small public beach. The website boasts “many bar locations†– with two bars – there is only one bar. The bathroom will only accommodate one person at a time - unless you like a tight squeeze!!! The food is mediocre and I am being generous here. There is no buffet option for lunch and breakfast offers a small buffet option, but for warm food you order off the menu. Dinner buffet was only available on theme nights otherwise you order off the menu. And don’t expect a large array of fruits, vegetables or seafood options – the food reminded me of something you might find at a pleasant truck stop. You order off a very limited menu and during our seven day stay, several of the basic items listed were unavailable (waffles, pancakes, English muffin). We ate one night at the Carlyle - and ordered scallops – oops our mistake the menu did say scallop (one that is!!), surrounded with peas. We are aware of another couple at the resort who were so upset that they spoke to management and got transferred on their third day to the Sandals Montego Bay.
We have stayed in numerous all-inclusive resort chains in the Caribbean such as Riu, Iberostar, Bahia Principe but never at a Sandals. This was our first – and last Sandals experience. Thinking it was only the Carlyle that fell short of the “luxury experience†upon which Sandals has built its brand we decided to take advantage of the “exchange privileges†and visited the other two resorts in hopes of finding the elusive “luxury†we had read about on the website. Although the other two were more upmarket than the Carlyle, neither would have been worth the extra $2,000+ for the experience – so the upside is we only wasted $5,000 not $7,000!!!
So next time my friends ask “It’s a Sandals – how bad can it be?†Our answer “…worse than you could ever imagine!!†It was certainly a unique experience and one we are sharing with our friends. We now advise everyone to give the “Sandals difference†a wide birth and visit instead the other beautiful Caribbean resorts such as the Iberostar Grand Rose Hall, Jamaica or the breathtaking Luxury Bahia Principe Levantado, Dominican Republic. Check them out Sandals, you could learn a lot from the competition
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Skaterdad -
Verified Purchaser
Perfect Getaway Oasis
Sandals Carlyle is a unique gem in the Sandals chain of resorts in Montego Bay Jamaica.
Having stayed Sandals Montego Bay resort in our "youth" some 25 years ago, we wanted to return to the area to at least partially relive the memories of that time and to create some new ones in a slightly different but equally luxurious environment.
Sandals Carlyle did not disappoint . Sandals neighboring Montego Bay and Royal Caribbean resorts, however, have suffered from some over-development that has taken [... read more]away their attractiveness for us as places to base ourselves on vacation in Jamaica.
The Carlyle "Inn" unlike the others, provides a wonderfully intimate (50 or so rooms) and relaxing place from which to base exploration and enjoyment of this and the two much larger and more fully "equipped" luxury-inclusive couples only resorts at Mo-bay and the Royal Caribbean. Both of these resorts are less than 20 minutes away on the free hourly shuttle to and from the Carlyle. At both you enjoy all of the luxury included features, and facilities, beaches, restaurants, bars, water sports and excellent services that all resident Sandals guests enjoy . We spent 10 days taking advantage of all three resorts including more excellent evening gourmet dining opportunities at all the resorts than we could possibly do in that time.
After 25 years away we found the Mo-Bay resort to be as equally luxurious , and providing excellent dining, activities and services , but much more "lively" than we remember or would really want to experience all day and all evening now. There are many more rooms, more restaurants and expanded facilities to accommodate more guests today, but less "room" on the beach, at the pools, in the more casual eating areas and around the bars and other facilities. Sandals Royal Caribbean is somewhat smaller, equally luxurious and well-serving, but similarly more busy than it was in the past. Unlike 25 years ago we experienced waiting for seats at beach-side dining facilities and bars , some scrambling for available beach and pool lounges and general overcrowding around the larger resorts in comparison to our earlier experiences. That is not to say that excellent service, quiet dinners in the excellent restaurants cannot be readily enjoyed at these. It's just that you have to make reservations ahead of time and search out the very few quieter areas that are available at these larger resorts .
The Carlyle is for us a much more attractive Sandals option providing the highest quality in all-inclusive services.
When not venturing out to the bigger resorts during the day or to their restaurants in the evening, we really enjoyed the quiet relaxation of a day by the pool and around the grounds of the Carlyle. While the beach is a tiny public one across the street, which can be busy with local residents particularly on weekends and holidays, the Carlyle's pool area was never crowded and we found to be very quiet, well serviced and much more enjoyable than the busier pool areas at the other resorts. The two Carlyle on-site gourmet restaurants, the Nibbles lunch and late night snack restaurant.and the wonderful "Sunset Bar" were always welcoming and excellently served by the friendly staff. The meals and bar services were always exceptional and served with a personal touch that the other resorts didn't always provide because of their size. No problems finding a seat here, even though the hotel was fully occupied .
Carlyle staff at every level are simply magnificent . Whether it was a friendly chat with the gardener about his amazing floral displays or with the chefs about their delicious international and Jamaican creations, bartenders about special cocktails , service staff, resident photographer ,or security guards... all made sure that everything was just right all the time. It was a wonderful vacation. 5 minutes from the airport,10 minutes by free shuttle to all-inclusive facilities at 2 other Sandals resorts in Montego Bay. Great value great fun and true relaxation.
We will be returning to the Carlyle as soon as we can.
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Sandalsspielberg -
Verified Purchaser
First time at Sandals Carlyle
Although this was our first stay at the Carlyle, we knew what to expect and are very happy with our stay. We did not spend all of our time there, taking the shuttle bus to Sandals Royal Caribbean most mornings returning in the afternoon. The shuttle kept to its schedule making it easy to go to and from the Montego Bay resorts. I gave the resorts location a 4 because it is across the road from a very small public beach. The staff at the Carlyle are very friendly and make you feel welcome. They re[... read more]ally do their best to make to make your stay relaxing and as stress free as they can. Many thanks to the Operations Manager Kwashie, Amanda from Sandals Select, Playmakers Prince, Natoya, and Richie Rich, bartenders Oreco and Floyd, Hostess Brenda, Photographer Shane, Maureen and Michelle from the Spa and an extra special thank you to Nicola from housekeeping who took such great care of us. It was nice to hear that the Carlyle will remain a Sandals and not become a Grand Pineapple. They just finished painting the outside of the resort and are doing the interior walls as well. The Bay Window restaurant was getting remodeled during our stay as well as a neon sign being installed at the end of our trip. We had very good meals and service at both the Carlyle and S.R.C..
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Ivanhoe -
Verified Purchaser
Lovely and warm
Small but nicely appointed. Excellent customer service from all staff.
Stayed there for Christmas 2013, opted for butler service, good for some things such as making dinner reservations for us, full service by the pool. Would not get butler service next time, a bit too much.
The hotel is quiet. For those who need loud music, sport activities and games, you would be better any of the other two resorts.
We spent most of our days at other resorts or walked down the street for shopping and sightseei[... read more]ng.